Germany is planning to procure 18 Leopard 2 tanks and 12 self-propelled howitzers to replenish stocks depleted by deliveries to Ukraine, according to procurement documents seen by Reuters.
The tanks order will come to 525 million euros ($578 million) while the howitzers have a price tag of 190.7 million euros, all of which are to be delivered by 2026 at the latest.
Further, the tank purchase includes an option for another 105 tanks for about 2.9 billion euros, and the German parliament’s budget committee was expected to sign off on the deal at the end of May.
To be noted, Germany has supplied 18 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine since the Russian invasion last year and has said it intends to plug the gap with new tanks as soon as possible.
The 12 howitzers are part of Defence Ministry plans signed off by the German parliament in March to buy up to 28 howitzers as replacements.
About Leopard 2 Tanks
The Leopard 2 is a third generation German Main Battle Tank (MBT). Developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s, the tank entered service in 1979 and replaced the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West German army.
The 55-tonne tank Leopard 2 has a crew of four and a range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles), and top speeds of about 68 kilometers per hour (about 42 mph).
As of now there are four main variants of this tank developed. The main weapon of the Tank is a 120mm smooth bore gun, and it has a fully-digital fire-control system.
